B.C. Lions fans — especially those who like their football at its most visceral level — perked up on the first play from scrimmage Thursday...

VANCOUVER — The newest B.C. Lion comes with plenty of baggage, but that’s not the reason Jordan Matechuk decided to make the 20-hour drive from Regina rather than pay the luggage surcharge and book a flight to his fourth Canadian Football League stop.

Two years ago, the linebacker/long snapper from Yorkton, Sask., was stopped and arrested by American officials at the Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.-Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. border crossing. In his possession were copious amounts of anabolic steroids, in pill and liquid form, syringes, replacement needles, oxycontin (a narcotic pain reliever) and 1.25 grams of marijuana.

At the time, Matechuk, who joined the Ticats in 2008, was attempting to enter the United States while en route to Hamilton’s training camp from Alberta. He was later convicted and jailed, serving 60 days of a 90-day prison sentence for possession.

As part of his rehabilitation, Matechuk contacted every CFL general manager, explaining that he was off his meds (Matechuk is bipolar and suffers from depression) at the time and expressing regret for the shame he had brought upon the league.

One of those GMs is Wally Buono, the man who plucked Matechuk off the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ practice roster and officially made him a Lion on Tuesday.

“My reaction to these things always is, if someone sees the error of his ways, and he apologizes for it, then you give him a second chance,” Buono explained. “We all make mistakes. He did something. He got caught. Hopefully, he’s learned from it. An apology is the beginning of learning. He was aware enough to realize his action affects all of us.”

To be sure, Buono is not playing the Spencer Tracy role of Father Flanagan in Boys’ Town.

Past legal entanglements notwithstanding, Matechuk is being recruited because of a very specific skill set -- his long snapping ability -- and not because of a redemptive social initiative on the Lions’ part.

He’s here to bring calm among the chaos. As examples:

* An errant snap by Tim Cronk in the June 28 season opener against Calgary sailed over punter Hugh O’Neill’s head. Thrown off his rhythm, O’Neill eventually got the ball away, but the Stampeders turned his line-drive kick into a long return and, later, a touchdown. It gave the Stamps a 31-6 lead in a game they went on to win, 44-32.

* Last Friday, in B.C.‘s home opener against the Argos, O’Neill had a punt blocked in the fourth quarter after he had to reach for a wonky Cronk snap that was outside his wheel house. While the Argos could only convert the block into a field goal, and still lost the game, 24-16, the Lions’ brain trust had seen enough.

“It’s not that I’m unhappy,” Buono explained. “It’s just that I don’t see any improvement. You saw the cause and effect.”

“Proficiency and efficiency,” added head coach Mike Benevides. “That was something we saw last year that is not there this year. Tim snapped one over his head (in Calgary) and Hugh had one blocked against Toronto. That’s not acceptable. As a coach, you have to look for someone who can do it better.”

While practice roster players have the option of moving to another team at any time, there’s a gentleman’s club understanding among CFL general managers that you don’t tamper with another’s spares unless absolutely necessary.

What’s more, a player can’t be moved from one team’s PR to another practice roster. Matechuk therefore will start his Lions’ career on the 46-man “active roster” and likely will dress for Saturday’s game in Edmonton, despite having only two scheduled practices with his new team.

He will take the roster spot of defensive lineman/special teamer Steve Doege, who has a stomach virus and has been ruled out of the game against the Eskimos.

Cronk would still play, he just won’t get to snap.

He was informed by two members of the Fourth Estate after practice that a new snapper was coming to replace him. Cronk said he also was unaware of Matechuk’s backstory.

“I didn’t know about that. Now I do because you told me,” Cronk said. “I think I had a pretty solid game last time -- one snap, off to the right. Other than that, I did okay. I’ve been trying to work on my velocity and location. You’ve to put it in the right spot every time. If it’s slightly wobbly, or slightly off . . . it’s one of those positions you only notice when there’s a mistake. A long snapper wants to be continually unnoticed.”

Because of his notoriety, however, Matechuk is one long snapper who won’t slip into town without an attendant media scrum.

In June, he told Murray McCormick of the Regina Leader-Post that prison helped turned his life around. He has become a spokesman for Canadian Mental Health Association issues and an anti-bullying crusader. Matechuk said people react positively to his story.

If he can place a snap squarely between the numbers on Hugh O’Neill’s jersey, that positive reaction can only get better in B.C.

Comments

We encourage all readers to share their views on our articles and blog posts. We are committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion, so we ask you to avoid personal attacks, and please keep your comments relevant and respectful. If you encounter a comment that is abusive, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box to report spam or abuse. We are using Facebook commenting. Visit our FAQ page for more information.